


The Shape of Me; The Name of You

by Thaliel (Alodia)



Category: The Shape of Water (2017)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Sex, Alien/Human Relationships, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fishman Boyfriend, Fluff and Smut, Spoilers, Teratophilia, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 02:07:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13261359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alodia/pseuds/Thaliel
Summary: He had no name, only titles and a series of noises that she wasn’t able to replicate no matter how hard she tried. They could communicate, yes, but culturally they were still worlds apart.Elisa brings them a little closer together, by giving him a name.Contains spoilers for the end of the movie.





	The Shape of Me; The Name of You

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my friends! I finally saw The Shape of Water (after trying to find a theatre near me for like 3 weeks), and I am forever changed. What a touching, wonderful movie. Guillermo really is someone I feel who is in touch with people’s emotions, and her certainly knows how to create a beautiful movie. He had me crying at the end; it was just so sweet and so kind and I am in love with a fish man all over again. 100% a new favorite movie of mine. 
> 
> So without further ado, a brief one shot set after the movie (obviously spoilers ahead). I hope you enjoy!

She was  _ very  _ familiar with her anatomy. Years of particularly enjoyable baths had lead her to a deep understanding of what she liked and did not like, as well as a sense of her own libido. She was not  _ too  _ ravenous, she felt like, but after years and years of  _ enjoyable baths  _ spending all of her time in the water was an interesting experience. 

She had a Pavlovian response to currents which hit her the right way, and when her beautiful partner swam past her, stirring up the water just so, it was only amplified. Every inch of him was so perfect, when the water rushed past her and she thought of his fingers, the secrets he kept hidden, she felt blood rushing to the surface of her skin. 

She thought he knew it too, as it seemed to keep happening more and more. Not that she was opposed, but it was almost  _ almost  _ aggravating how good he was at sending her moods now. All she had to do was feel a tremor of desire and he was right there next to her, his hands on her hips. 

Any time she laid her eyes on him, she could still hardly believe it. Six months in, and he was still muscled and sleek all over, still acrobatic and eager to learn. But he was freer now, in the open water. More able to be himself and show her what he could really do. He would hunt fish for her in the showiest manner, sometimes laying traps, and sometimes moving so fast she could hardly see him just before using his claws on a fish. He could do somersaults in the water and light their way in the darkness with his bio-luminescence. 

Most surprisingly, was the rapid rate at which he picked up signing. She dedicated a block of time each day to teaching him, and Elisa swore he had a photographic memory. He chirped as he did it, almost as if he was speaking his own language to her as he learned, but she never had to show him the same sign twice. Eventually, his chirps developed a pattern to her, they were expressive, and with his beautiful eyes and quick hands, communication was soon regular and easy. 

She tried for weeks to get him to spell out his name, but from what Elisa could gather, there was no direct translation for his name in her language. He was more… A collection of titles which he was referred to as in his home. God was one which came up a lot, the River Guardian seemed to be another, but she could never pry out of him what he referred to himself as. 

_ I am _ , he would tell her.  _ I am. I am.  _

When Elisa thought about it, she supposed that when you were alone, and couldn’t talk to those around you, you didn't really need a name. You were only you.

_ What do you want me to call you?  _ She signed, curious. She had taught him and entirely new language, surely he had a preference.   

He blinked at her, his golden eyes wide and his mouth open just a little. He chirped, excited, and then signed at her,  _ Yours. _

She smiled, then signed at him,  _ If you like. But there has to be something else you want to be called.  _

He closed his mouth and seemed to assess her, then pointed at her and signed,  _ Elisa.  _

She nodded. 

Then he pointed at himself, clearly trying to understand why a name was so important.  _ Yours.  _

She laughed then,  _ Yes. But something else. Like…  _ She looked around, trying to find some inspiration. A hundred names went through her mind, and none of them seemed fitting. She thought about pet names, and tried to picture him as a dear one, or sweetheart. While he was kind and generous, and very sweet, there was a lot more to him than that. He held an innate power which deserved a better name. 

She thought of the names of other gods she knew. Hercules was too aggressive. As was Ares, Poseidon, and Zeus. 

The names of other gods would never work. 

Elisa sighed, and swam over to him, running a hand over his arm, then sliding under it. His head fell on top of hers, and she stared out into the water, wondering what to call him. 

They had been steadily making their way south through the months, moving into warmer water, and slowly sinking deeper. The pressure from the ocean had mean that he was fully healthy again, and the nutrients carried on the tide kept him happy and healthy. 

_ John _ , she signed at him, finally. 

His head tilted to one side, and he moved to look down at her.  _ John?  _

She nodded, firm.  _ John. _

_ What does it mean?  _ He signed. 

Elisa thought about it,  _ I don’t know what it means, but it’s a popular name. One of my favorites.  _

He almost looked like he wanted so sigh, but John shrugged, and Elisa was pleased. She had always loved the name, and with as many times as she had seen  _ You’ll Never Know,  _ it was perfect. She was the Alice to his John.

She smiled wide and signed,  _ John _ .

His gills fluttered and he chirped happily at her,  _ John. Your John.  _

She swam towards him and wrapped herself in his arms, and then ran her fingers down his front, tracing over the planes there that she was quickly memorizing. His torso seemed to be longer than a regular man’s, and with his fins and gills settled at his joints and along his curves, every time her fingers touched him, there was something new to discover. He was beautiful blue and gold and when she touched him just right, he glowed in a way she knew he was really truly happy. Sometimes over his whole body, and other times only where their skin touched. 

They were not so deep into the water that there was no light, and they spent many of their days in shallower water to keep warm, but sometimes, they dived low and deep where it was darker and they had to use their hands to find one another. Elisa took advantage of the good lighting where they were now, and gazed into his eyes, admiring. 

Then she bent her head and took her time looking at where her hands sat on his chest, her pale pink skin next to his golden and teal. He never seemed to mind it when she took her time with him. 

She ran her fingers up one of his sides, finding some spines there which she gently set down, brushing them so they were out of her way. She glanced gently off of a set of gills, which had him shuddering visibly. 

Elisa smiled at him, and John,  _ her John,  _ smiled back. 

Tears didn’t really work underwater, but she felt the full brunt of her emotions without the physical aide. She never knew she could be this happy, had no inkling that her life could be so different, so perfect. She had spent  _ her entire life  _ feeling broken and neglected. She had made the most of it, did what she could be be happy and to make meaningful friendships, but she had resigned herself. 

The mute orphan girl would never have a family. Never be truly, really, happy, be in love. 

But here Elisa was, floating in crystal blue water, above a colorful reef teeming with life she had only seen in books, next to the man she loved. 

John’s hands came up to her face, and his webbed fingers cupped her, bringing her closer to him. He could read her like a book, and his gills fluttered and he smiled, just a little, at her. 

It wasn’t quite the same as a human smile, but it was close. 

Elisa gripped his shoulders and pulled him to her, kissing him gently. 

His gills fluttered happily, brushing against her face as his hands wrapped around her.

Weeks ago, she had abandoned clothing for ease of motion in the water and when his hands met her skin, cool and textured, she sighed into him. He was like no one else, and he was all hers. Her own river god, smart and kind and fierce. 

He leaned back and signed at her in the close space.  _ Rocks behind you, lower?  _

She nodded eagerly, swimming away from the small reef and finding sand a little further down in the water. John swept a hand over the sand, making sure there were no rays hiding, and then pulled her close again. 

He kissed tenderly, mindful of his talons and his sharp spines. He was always thinking of her, running his pebbled hands over her hips and up her sides, exploring expanses of skin where he had scales and spines and gills. 

Elisa had discovered that he liked gentle touches to his gills and down his chest. He seemed to be more sensitive in the softer places, in between planes when’re his muscles changed or moved. 

She drifted her hands down to the part of him that was perhaps the most different. He had a sheath, and already when her hands ghosted over him, his hips bucked and she felt a seam become just a little wider over where she knew he was concealed. 

He whined, and she did it again, her fingers moving over the sheath and encouraging him. A low whirr worked up in his throat,  and he bent down to kiss her neck, licking with his tongue that was smooth as silk and then biting  _ so so  _ gently. 

Elisa smiled and shuffled closer. She lifted one hand and made an abbreviated motion for,  _ Sex?  _

John nodded,  _ Yes.  _

This time, she was determined to do something new for him. Something she remembered from her days on land. 

She maneuvered herself so that she was floating above him, and pushed him so he was settled in the sand below her. Admiring how his skin grew just a shade more blue when he was aroused, she leaned down and licked at his sheath with no warning. 

His hips flew off of the sand and his wide eyes met hers. 

She smiled at him, and spelled out  _ Blowjob.  _

He held up his hands,  _ Your mouth? _

She nodded. 

John still seemed puzzled, but nodded, and his hips fell back into the sand. 

Pressing kisses first to his hips, she moved inward again, slower this time. She kissed along where his legs bet his torso, and along every plane and dip she could find. Then, when she could see that he had opened a little more, she kissed his sheath again, smiling as she did so.

Shudders wracked his body, but he kept his hips on the sand. Her tongue darted out, and she tasted salt and river and a deeper musk on his body. She licked up the slit and then down, and suddenly he was springing forth, emerging from the slit, blue and throbbing. 

She heard the rumbling in his chest pick up, and Elisa wrapped a hand around him, stroking softly. This at least, he was familiar with. He was warmer here than the rest of his body, closer to his core. 

He was blue and ridged all over, nubs and ridges which made him interesting to hold, soft in texture, but just a little slimy from being in the sheath. He swelled at the base and tapered at the tip, making him girthier and more elegant that what she knew of human penises. Her fingers just barely met at the tip of him, but at the base… They didn’t even come close. 

It was so different, and it was breathtaking, and it did nothing to help sate her lust. Every time she thought of him, blue and proud, she got wet. The water for her was always sensual, blue always calming and familiar, now it all made her think of a deep blue hidden between his legs, his hands touching her gently as they moved together. 

She licked him from base to tip, and when his hips bucked again, she decided to cut him some slack. She would finish him another day, for now, she wanted him inside of her. 

Feeling her hesitation, his hands scooped under her arms, and he brought her up to him. His cheeks were so blue, she thought he was moments from orgasm, and it made her flush from head to toe, her sex throbbing and ready for him. 

John rumbled and chirped and then wrapped a hand around her hip, drawing her down to him. Her knees settled in the sand on either side of him, and with his encouragement, she sat herself down onto him, filling her wide and deep. 

Elisa braced herself on his chest, gasping and looking up at him, arching his eyes. They were half closed and dazed, his chest rumbling and gills fluttering. 

When their eyes met, he chirped happily and his fingers tensed on her, encouraging her to move. 

Elisa did, sliding up his length and savoring all of the ridges there, and then back down, descending quickly through bumps and ridges of sensation. 

John’s hands drifted up her sides and played with her breasts, pinching both nipples carefully and then pulling, driving a line of fire right down her middle and increasing the tension in her frame. 

It was beyond anything, past all other pleasure and into the next realm. It did not take very long before his fingers on her breast and the ridges along his cock drove her over the edge, her back arching as she clenched around him. She sank further down his length, taking in the thicker base and she felt another wave crash over her, her body stretched as wide as it could go and ravaged by a beautiful friction. 

John rumbled and growled loudly, his hands closing in around her ribs and guiding her  up and then down him one more time, before his hips were bucking up into her with his own release. The movement mirrored the moment she had earlier, the thick base of his shaft driving her wild with distinct ridges and a girth that had her breath catching as he came, warm inside of her. 

Elisa panted above him, her own gills working hard as she breathed and came down from the fog, her hair floating around her, his hands drifting over her as light filtered down from above. 

He looked beautiful in the shifting glittering light, blue all over and breathing hard, his eyes locked with hers and filled with such love. 

Elisa held up a hand,  _ I love you.  _

John sighed and pulled her close to him,  _ I love you.  _

**Author's Note:**

> Like things and stuff? I have a tumblr, which you can follow at [Alodia-Thaliel](http://alodia-thaliel.tumblr.com)


End file.
